What was your worst hunt?
 

Mine was 2 yrs ago, Managed to get off work early one day, after washing up and getting ready, I found myself sitting in the tree. (WITHOUT MY RELEASE). I left it in my truck,In a way I am kinda glad cause now I have this release obsession.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

i cant recall ANY day in the woods that i wish i hadnt gone out. i honestly believe any day in the woods is better then a day doing anything else.....

and i spend more days afield then most anyone i know..if im not hunting im fishing(alot of that is deep woods fishing) and if im not hunting or fishing im scouting. just getting to the point that ive seen ALOT of stuff that most guys never wanna see in the woods. ive coonhunted in the middle of the night and got caught in NASTY NASTY storms with trees blowing over all around and lightning cracking down. ive been in wind storms, blizzards, thurnderstorms etc...ive hunted in 90+degree heat and sun clear down to below zero with nasty windchills. ive been soaked to the bone and shivering and could barely walk because my bones and muscles got so tight (awesome day turkey hunting that morning but i was soaked waist down and it was about 40 degrees!:)) ive been slightly turned around for GOOD parts of a day...ive got seperated from part of my group in a nasty nasty thunderstorm and we were ontop of a mountain...i havent seen it all....but ive hunted in alot of nasty stuff and been through some nasty situations...but never had a BAD hunt. ive walked hours and hours on end...stand hunting the rest of the hours of the day to not even see a tweety bird let alone game...still came out laughing and joking with dad.

if i come out of the woods alive it was a good day....if i dont come out alive....i died where i love to be.

im sure forgeting your release and watching monster bucks walk by all morning(heard that story a couple times;) lol) wasnt a picture perfect situation...but just having the time to be out there to witness those monster bucks is enough for me. im just an odd ball like that. some of my best hunts arent the ones i came home with anything either...i remember one morning i was sitting in my homemade brushblind deer hunting. ive never ever seen a squrriel in that spot ever. that morning was freezing and 6 inches of snow on the ground kept it cold. i always clear out all the snow from that brush blind(its on a boulder) and make it kinda comfy and cozy for me) lunch time im eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich and here comes a little red squirrel. i couldnt help but to see if hed eat lunch with me. and he did. im a solid mile from the road. that squirrel never been feed by anyone and here he is sitting IN my brush blind eating the sandwhich i handed him. i went back there a couple more times that season...call me wierd but i packed him a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich every morning and every morning when the sun got above the mountain he would come sit with me. no joke...he was awesome. ill remember my little buddy longer then the time i killed a particular deer...

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I can think of a few days afield that were not as good as the others but they still were better than the best day of work.;)

In short, the day my bow fell and when I grabbed for it and watched my bow fall to the forest floor, I realized I had a fist full of broadhead......retrieved my bow, wrapped a dew rag around my hand and kept hunting, bleeding the entire time from 3 deep cuts in my palm. (3 blade Muzzy, bad to the skin).

Another, standing in my treestand, one hand on my stand, the other on my tree umberella praying the tree will withstand the horrifying lightening/rain storm I was in...yes, I was scared but couldn't convince myself to get down, it was too late. I waited it out.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Ouch!!, wrong kind of blood trail Rob:D
Dan

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Last year hunting in late december in negative degree weather.

My bow hand (glove) froze solid to the grip of my bow. On top of that, I had forgotten my knit cap so the tips of both of my ears froze solid. Worst pain I've ever dealt with was having them unthaw in the truck coming home. Several days later the skin started to turn brown like a sun burn and peeled. Frost bite, but not incredibly bad.

Not fun, kids.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Last Thanksgiving didn't use my safety vest will going down w/ climber. After a 20ft fall and several broken bones in my shoulder I realized it all could have been prevented. Climbed up and down 100 times but it only takes once use your vest going up and down not just when you get there

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I guess it would be the day in Illinois when I got caught in the woodsas a tornado came through. Luckily, I had gotten out of my tree and hunkered down in a creekbed. One of the guys in my group wound up hanging on for dear life while his tree pitched every which way. that was two years ago and I dont think he has been in a tree since.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

On Nov. 13, 2004, I was sitting in my stand in the morning, when over 100 hounds and 8 people on horseback came blasting by. They were dressed in funny looking clothes with puffy pants and one guy had what looked to be a very small tuba (some kind of horn). They were surprised when I called out to them from 25 feet up and 20 yards away. They said that they were also hunting. I told them that they were not to be hunting on this land during the bow season. They ignored me and simply rode off. A call to the land owner and they never showed up again. The damage was done for a couple of days. After the hounds, which were shoulder to shoulder, and the horses went through, not even a bird was left in the area. The damage was done and my hunt was ruined. That was the worst hunt of my life.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I just started bowhunting this year and i did this same thing my 2nd day out.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Mine was two years ago the day before the opener in ILL my buddy wanted to put up 1 more stand and to make a long story short i cut the back of my hand with the gebber saw bad idea!!!! I missed opening morning but my buddy made me a brace that fit my elbow because of the cast after surgery and we lowered the # on my bow to 60 so i could draw it and hunted that night. Well the second night i was out i had a buck that would score right around 200 come in at 40 yards and i was only good and practice a 20 yard shot with the new brace and all so i had to let him walk and i never seen him again!!! Walt

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

My worst hunt is when a GW came walking right to my blind asking questions. That dude was a true DH.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

The worst hunt I've had was the time I fell out of my treestand about 11 years ago , forgot my harness that day.
I was 24 feet up and seated when my stand sliped loose and tiped , I took a 20 foot drop hitting evey branch on the way down.
My whole entire left side was sore and bady bursied although I didn't break any bones , I remember I had a hard time breathing and couldn't walk very well.
Needless to say that incident put me out for the rest of the season that year , lesson learned don't leave home without your harness.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Mine was November 11 of this year. I went to hunt my favorite stand in a neighboring county. I have hunted this tree for about 15 years, always saw deer there. I had hunted the stand 4 times this year and hadn't seen a thing. On this particular day, I wasn't dressed warm enough and the wind was cutting right through me. I decided to get down and head about 50 yards south into the timber to get out of the wind. I was wondering why I hadn't seen ANY deer from the stand....I found out why when I got down. Some jerk had a meth lab set up about 50 yards south of me in the honeysuckle!! LP cylinders, milk jugs, camp fuel cans, plastic tubing....a huge mess and stunk like nothing I've ever been around. Cops came and cleaned it up....still haven't seen a thing from that stand this year. I've pretty much written it off for the year.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Funny how these stories sometimes have ties......

I'll always remember 9/12/06. That's the day I saw the biggest bodied deer I've ever seen....and the day I injured that same deer from 12 yds. I was shaking like a leaf.

I didn't sleep that night. I followed a sparse blood trail for a while.....then grid searched through my best hunting area until 3:45AM. Nothing. I searched until noon the next day with my Labs...in the pouring rain.

That day was the worst.

It was warm the day after Thanksgiving.....and I backpacked my stand and gear into the woods about 1/2 mi. I remembered on the way that I'd left my haul line in my other shirt. I'll improvise. I remembered when I got to my tree that I'd left my release in the front seat of my truck. Cn't improvise that.....so I trek it back home. I'm sweating when I get back....and mad at myself.

I get situated and start seeing deer pretty soon. Iend up seeing the 8 pointer that I would latertake......andTHEN I see the brute I'd injured earlier in the year. He came in quickly to about 4 yds.....and then went directly beneath my stand (I was looking through the slats of my platform at him). He ws scenting where I had laid my gear to go get my release. He looked up.....and Ill never forgethow awesome it was seeing him. He was/is fine! What started out as a BAD day became my best day afield, this year.

Jeff

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I took a week off of work to go hunting two years ago. I spent every waking minute of 7 days in the stand. Tried three different spots and only once saw a deer about 180 yards away. It was very humbling.

Tom

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I got to camp one year and realized I had left my rifle bolt in my room at home.

Sorry for the rifle propaganda but this is the only board I read.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I also need to add this.....

I killed 2 deer, this year, that died within 10 yds of me. I heard both of them cry out in death. I'll never forget that. I think everyone who hunts should have to go through that. It makes me never lose sight of the fact that an animal dies when we're successful. They DESERVE our utmost respect. They paid the ultimate price.

Jeff

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

This year the cows got lose and ruined a weekend of hunting.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I went bowhunting one day three years ago in the late season.Lots of ice and snow.It was in the morning and the stand I was in had one big branch about 15 ft up you had to kinda duck under to get to the top step.No way to use a safety harness going up or down.I got one ft on the top tree step, and my hand and other foot slipped out of the crotch above.I fell headfirst but somehow the pantleg on my coveralls wrapped around the treestep and I was hanging upside down.I grabbed the closest treestep with hand, about the same time the ziopped in my pantleg ripped out, it was enough to allow me to swing around as I fell, I half assed landed on my feet and wound up on my back looking up but wasnt hurt other then a huge bruise on my leg.Then it dawned on me, my bow was still hanging 15 ft above me and Id have to climb back up to get it

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Heading to my stand the last weekend in October only to find a broken cable lock laying at the bottom of the tree.
2nd worst moment was this past weekend I find a note tacked to a tree beside my trailcam. "call this #XXX-XXX-XXXX".
I find out that the landowner I had permission to hunt about 500 acres had turned over hunting rights for the land to two brothers and all permission had to go through them.
When I called, the fellow told me that NO ONE had permission to hunt there any longer and that if I was caught there he would call the Game Warden and have me ticketed!
There was absolutely no reasoning with him even after I had explained that I've been hunting there the past 10 years and there were plenty of deer and land.
I even tried telling him I would call in advance and let him know where I would be on the land so we would run into each other.
The conversation turned tense and I knew it was just best that I say goodbye to my spot forever...[&o]
Actually now that I think about it, that day was worse than finding my climber stolen.:(

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I've only been hunting 6 yrs now. This is kind of a worse tobetter ending . Went down to Shawnee National forest. I barrowed a buddies summit climber.After we got there we picked outour tree we were going to hunt the next morning . The next morning (still dark) I climbed the tree, First I didn't know I was able to sweat like that.After settling inI was pulling up my bow and reached out to grab it and it slipped off..Crash to the forest floor.[:@] I thought I was done for the rest of the trip. So I had to climb down and get my bow.It was a new rope but the clip slid off the end,so I tied it on this time. Climbed back up to about 8-9ft, I was so hot that thats where I stayed.After romoving a couple layers of clothes I cleaned the dirt out of my nocks and rechecked my bow/arrows. I drew it back as slow as I could (looking away), seemed to draw ok:eek:.

I did take a doe later that morning at 22 yrds. She went about 30 yrds right into the middle of an old cattle pond. After she was down, I didn't mind walking into the pond.Going 1/4 mile back to truck to get thecamera before dressing her out. Dragging her out 1/4 mile out, mostly up hill. That I kind of stuff I can handle:) Anyway it was aruff start with a good ending!

The great part is I had a deer to drag out. Lesson learned.... Do not over dress when using a climber;)

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Worst would be about 6 years back. I saw a nice buck pusing a doe in the distance. I spent about 1.5 to 2 hours stalking these two. I finally set up behind a bush cross wind of where they were headed. Every thing was going as planed. As this buck got closer I realized it was one of the nicest ive ever had a chance to arrow. As the doe passes, I draw, and in mid draw the cable on my quick tun 2000 sliped. The arrow wouldnt raise. All I could do was watch as they walked by. I guess I had snagged it as I was crawling, or something. I soon switched to a Muzzy and fixed the problem.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Mine was when I got to myspot and my cable locked Lone Wolf climber is no longer at the base of my tree! This was on "private property" three years ago.[:@]

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I've had too many things go haywire to even pick one incident out as being the "worst."

If I had to choose, I'd say it was the Rifle Opener in WV about eight years back. I see a buck, pass. See a buck, pass. Finally see a shooter - no shot. I finally getfrustrated and shoot a scrub spike that runs down off the mountain before he expires(adding a full hour onto my drag). While I'm still kicking myself for shooting this spike and lugging him back up out of this canyon, my buddy whiffs on a big 4x4. He's mad too. Everybody is mad.

We get to the check station and it's honestly an hour wait. My girlfriend is nagging me on the phone about getting home late, my buddy is complaining about missing that buck, and I'm disgusted with myself for shooting a spike. I call my uncle on the cell to see if they did any good, and he says he can't talk b/c he's at the hospital. Apparently, his buddy rolled an ATV over himself while towing out a deer and crushed a lumbar vertebrae. He's in a body-cast, the quad is trashed andtheir deer are still laying in the woods. Not good. He says "Hey, will you come help me drag these deer out tonight?"

How can I say no to a guy who just watched his buddy crush his spine? So I agree. I race home and drop the atomic bomb on the gf that I'm heading back down to WV to drag deer again. Will be home around midnight. You can just imagine that scene. What an awful day.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

This year I was watching this "Grossing mid 170-180's" Monster in a field that I couldn't hunt. Had 15 scorable points very thick wide and had huge double browtines. For three mornings in a row during the ruthe cameout of this field following what I think was the same doe. I just watched him and felt privilaged to even see him so close threw my scope and so often, but frustrated that he was not on land that I could hunt. Well on the 4th morning I pulled up to my spot to wait for him to come out and watched and the farmer drive his 4wheeler into the woods where he has been bedding. Out he comes with the doe and runs accross the road onto a fense line that I can hunt in the open. He lays down with the doe in the fense line. So I go and park and start the stalk, I crawled for about an hour to get to him on the other side of the this thin thick fense line. I got within 12 yards of him, got to my knees and gave myself about 15min to calm myself down. I then realized that I had no shooting lanes while he was laying down. So I got ready and was going to throw a little piece of dirt from the plowing up into the air into the fense line, (throw it high enough to give me time to draw before it hits the grass). Hoping that he would stand up to investigate qickly, then let him have it. (I've done this before and it worked!). So I throw the dirt clump in the air and try to draw and he stands up looking right in my direction. My arrow was off my rest in between my drop away and my riser!!!!!!!!!! So I quickly let up, while he's 12 yards away looking at me broadside!!! Try to redraw but by the time I came to full draw againhe took off!! I just fell to my knees and I swear to god I almost threw up.12 yards broadside and I F***** it up!!!!I have never lost so much sleep in a two weak period.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I have been hunting this big 8 pointer all year. Would be my first ever buck. I rattled him in to about 15 yards. Broadside looking at a spike. Drew back put the dot on the vitals and touched off. My arrow never left the rest.( i had knocked it off the string somehow while drawing)I dry fired my bow throwing it all out of wack. peepsight flew off. Deer just stood there. eventually he walked away. I got down. smaller 8 point ran out of the corn straight to me. 10 yards. couldn't shot becouseI had to get my bow fixed.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Ohh yes the log spliter buck, in 2000 the year I ate tag soup. I did not hunt much because of work. It is now Dec and I have shot3 doe's and no bucks. I am hunting a nice 8 i have seen couple times. It is Dec 18th and cold as hell. I had to nock the ice off my stand. Sitting in the tree when around 4:30 I see 15-20 doe's. They are walking towards me, and deer always enter the woods in this spot. I look behind them and there he is, the big 8. I am now counting my chickens, at 30 yards out the doe's are coming in and so is he. At this point I hear the log splitter fire up, Dad is in his wood pile. Which is less then 100 yds away, deer freeze. Then walk to the other side field. Along with the log spliiter buck, LOL

PS
I cursed at my Dad for the first time, LOL

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

My worst hunt, taken as most disappointing was 5 years ago during rifle season hunting in a shotgun only zone with an old hand-me-down shotgun.
I and a buddy bsing in my buddies garage when another buddy living next door runs over and says. I just had this huge 12 pt buck nearly run me over by my poleshed. I and my other buddy think, yeah sure. Then the buddy2 goes and there he is and points across the road. Sure you know what there is this big boy right across the road (about 125 yards away) and he is making his way for our little 80 acre patch of pines.
I and buddy 1, get our shotguns and enter the pines. Buddy 1 goes straight down the middle/main trail and I cut through some thick underbrush and head, in a 45 degree angel to the left of him and the main trail toward tree stand off an ajoining trail about 130 yards into the pines.
A little while later, when I get to the ajoining trail I see buddy 1 waling back down the main trail as if leaving. I figure I might as well walk toward the main trail and then folow him in if I do not see anything.
I get to the intersection with the main trail, pause and hear some rustling in the brush, off to the rightabout 20 yards down, left on the main trail.
I immediately take a knee and get ready.
Mr. big, 12 points and all walks right out onto the main trail about 20 yards in front of me broadside. Could not ask for a better shot and he wasunaware that I was there.
I go to pull the trigger, nothing. Try again, nothing again. He still does not know I am there, so I chamber a new shell and he hears it, and I pull the trigger again, nothing again. Henow looks toward me, as I chamber another round, he turns and bounds for the brush behind him, and I pull the trigger out of frustration as he is about 5 yards into the brush and it goes bang.
Needless to say, bought a brand new shotgun after that, but probably lost at least a 170 class buck that day.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Last weekend a buddy and I went out crop damage gun hunting. Well he had cleaned his gun earlyer in the month. Well when we got in the field 2 hrs from home he noticed his trigger assembly wasnt in his gun he forgot to put it back in. Lucky for him he brought a second brush gun that he was able to use but it was still pretty funny.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

Oh, the "squeaky fence buck"! I was a kid hunting in Illinois on some unreal farm property about 25 years ago (God I miss that place). I forgot my portable seat when I found a section of fence that was bent over and made for a real nice seat.
But I told myself, "remember the fence squeaks a little with quick movements". I looked up and there were 8 does circled around the most magnificent buck I have ever seen (to this day!!), and they were coming right to me.
I knew he was mine, everyone would be envious, he will be mounted on my wall. Even the old timers I hunted with never killed anything like THIS!
As I went to take a knee and shoot him, the fence goes "squeeeeeeek".
They stop, alarmed, and I knew it was all over. They slowly turned andtrottedaway. I'll never forget it.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

well I have not had to many real bad hunts, but one mourning I was going to my stand. I had to walk for over 1 1/2 miles to my stand becuase the woods where to thick to get a four wheeler back to it. So i walk with my bow in the middle of winter to my stand to find somone else was hunting it. I ased who he was and he said that it did not matter becuase this was his stand and he was not moving. So i sat right below the tree he was in,he was using a gun. Well a doe walked up and he shot it. I took the deer and walked it back to camp and he never got it. So then he came to my camp and told me and the guys i was huntign with that that was his deer. We told him he should have not bein in my stand and on our property. So then be bought the deer from us for 200 dollars. We gave it to him and did not thank anything of it. I went back that night to find that my stand was gone. So me and the guys went to his house took my stand and got in a fight with him. We got my stand and he got a at lip and a busted eye. But now the tree and all the trees in that area are gone becuase he took a chainsaw to them when we where not there so that spot is not worth nothing but ground hunting. But that was the worst hunt i have had.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

just read your link killzone. Get the last laugh piss him off more and get evidence of him destroying more of your property. (trail cams) and then sue him for all hes worth... thats what id do.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

also killzone get a tellaphone poll and ancure it in the ground with concret and put a stand up with some natural branchs or a camo net around it and youll have a spot for your treestand if its worth the effort.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

yea that is a good idea, both of them. I think i am going to do that. thanks for the advice.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I was really sick this archery season and I got stuck working a lot of overtime. I only got out two times. The first time I went out was after work so I only had a few hrs. I start hiking in about a 1/2 miwith my tree standand jump a spike. He stood 15 yrds away just looking at me. If we didn't have AR's I probably would have shot him. I walk the rest of the way in and set up my climber. I get up the tree and my stand is leaning down too far. I climb down and adjust the cable and climb back up. I go to pull up my bow and my quiver catches on a branch and rips off. Now I'm staring at my arrows lying on the ground. I lower my bow back down, and climb down again. While I was getting my arrows I noticed my 30 yrd pin had broken off. I was so disgusted I just walked around looking for deer sign for a while packed up and went home.

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

This one is easy.

Last October or November of 2005. Hunting my lease in Illinois way up in a treestand. About an hour into the sit and I hear shots at the neighboring farm. Within minutes the shots get louder as the hunters (small game)[:@] approach. I got nervous.

Another few moments and a bullet most likely from a .22 zooms past me and hits a tree less than 15 ft. away. Let me tell you.. I couldn't get down from the tree any faster! A scary moment...

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

I had a bad day about 10 years ago. I never hunted in a full body coverall suit. So my wife bought me one for the Holidays. I thought it would be good to use before work. I could wear it over my work clothes when I hunted before I went to work. So the first time I used it im walking down the railroad tracks to my hunting spot. All of a sudden I need to take the worlds biggest and wet crap. It's one of those craps that it now or never! So I pull the new coveralls down right on the railroad tracks and take a mean dump . I wipe my behind pull my undies and pants then my new coveralls. I start walking down the Railroad tracks to my hunting spot and I start to smell something real bad, I mean real bad. Well gess what? I SH%# right in my new coveralls and pulled them back on. Well my hunt was over[:o]I walked back to my truck and took off all my clothes and made the drive home in the Buck[8D]WHAT A MESS!!!!!! I called the wife and told her to have the hose and towel ready, I'll explain when I get home. Never did live this one down!!!!!!

Hatchet Jack

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

November 4, 2000. I was dragging a deer out through a red pine plantation when a 14 yr old Native American decided to take a sound shot at me from 20 yrds with a 30-06. The bullet hit a branch then passed through my right bicep, missing the artery by 2mm. I had shrappnel (sp?) in my stomach and my groin. 2.5 hours of surgery later I had a new artery in my arm.

At least I got a helicopter ride out of it!

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

im with hatchet here..its january of '05..im going out for a morning hunt, when whatever i had for breakfast was ready to come out fast, right when im getting ready to put on my bibs. i quick drop trou do my business,when i get ready to pull my pants back on i realize i had sh** in my boxers. I took my buck knife and cut then right off my legs n buried 'em, to make it worse i didnt see a thing that morning

RE: What was your worst hunt?
 

OUCH!!!!